Sudsakorn's fight was one of the closer ones, but he didn't look to be in trouble anywhere during the fight and Abdallah Mabel was easily the most experienced of the French fighters, barring Pinca. Sudsakorn played in his usual way and hurt Mabel with lowkicks. Mabel came out with elbows to try and win by cut, but Sudsakorn ended up cutting him and they traded some uncommon techniques like spinning elbows. Mabel even threw a Saenchai cartwheel in the third.

Barradas came out gunning in the first round, but Yodsanklai ground him down with power shots and was hurting him against the ropes throughout the second. Yodsanklai cruised through the third and took the decision.

Buakaw dominated his fight with teeps, middle kicks, and dumps, as per usual. Coulibaly gave him a bit of trouble with right crosses in the third, but he got dumped from a low clinch three or four times for his troubles.

I admit I stopped watching Pinca vs Yamato after the first round. Fabio was handling Yuya easily. There was a very evident gap in technique that Yuya couldn't seem to bridge. The pressure game he applied in his upset vs Drago was nowhere to be seen since Pinca had him outmatched in boxing, power, and overall technique. Yuya did partially connect with a right headkick in the first, but it was all Pinca.

Yuya has massive balls, though, and he overcame the gap in experience and technique by rushing in with elbows and cutting Pinca. I didn't see this, and it probably wasn't pretty, but Yuya reminds us that fighters come to fight.

Petasaween was a 130 lb. stadium champion in Thailand, and he took the fight comfortable against Derdega, as he was favored to do. I didn't watch it, but from what I hear, it was about as one-sided as the other Thai vs French bouts.

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The fights were a good showcase of Muay Thai for a different kind of audience but, excepting Pinca vs Yamamoto, the fights weren't very competitive, and even that fight featured a massive difference in skill that Yamamoto overcame by luck and balls. If the Isuzu Tournament, which concludes this May 21st with KemSitsongpeenong vs Nopparat Keatkhamtorn, is any sort of gauge, though, the Thai Fight Tournament itself should feature some very competitive bouts, as it did last year.

The fight that had everyone talking from Yokkao 9 in China was Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee vs. Yi Long, a match labeled as Muay Thai vs. Shaolin Gung Fu. Sudsakorn ultimately walked away with the victory, but there are still those who have doubted it. So Yokkao has gone ahead and released the footage from the fight and you can decide for yourself. I don't know, it seems pretty cut and dry to me that Sudsakorn won, what do you think?

Remember that event about a month ago where Sudsakorn fought Petrosyan two weeks after fighting Kem Sitsongpeenong? I remember. I also remember trawling the internet for video. Well, I found it and am here to share.

Sudsakorn is in the blue gloves, and comes out in the pink afro, and Petrosyan wears red gloves, and comes out in his normal hair.

Note that Sudsakorn's January 15 bout in Thailand against Kem was at 67 kg. This fight is at 70 kg, which is Petrosyan's weight class. Reports are that Sudsakorn weighed in between 67 and 68 kg, while Petrosyan weighed in just shy of 70, presumably putting on 5 or so kg after weigh-ins.

Yokkao presented Yokkao 9 over the weekend, featuring a China vs. Muay Thai themed event that was headlined by Sudsakorn vs. Yi Long that saw Sudsakorn take the victory after three rounds via decision. There was some mild controversy raised over the decision, but all reports from ringside seem to lean towards Sudsakorn taking the victory no matter what, especially with the fight being contested under K-1 rules to accommodate the Chinese fighters better.

Some of you may have noticed changes to the scheduled lineup of the Isuzu Tournament at the end of the groups phase. In February, Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee from Group A and Thepsutin Pumpanmuang from Group B were barred from the tournament for breaking contract stipulations by fighting outside of Thailand during the duration of the tournament, similar to what happened to Cosmo Alexandre with It's Showtime.

We ended up seeing Nopparat KeatkhamtornvsAntoine Siangboxing and Dernchonlek Sor Sor NiyomvsDiesellek Top King Boxing. Both the original tournament competitors ended up winning their fights, Nopparat by a very close decision and Dernchonlek by third round tko.

Prakaisaeng Sit-Or took a decision over Thanongdet Petpayatai, while Kem Sitsongpeenong knocked out Kongjak Sor Tuantong to close groups action.

The semi-finals concluded on the April 16.Matchmaking for the semi-finals was done by fan vote, which is an interesting innovation by the organizers, as these things are usually decided by the organizers or by the fighters themselves. Dernchonlek vs Nopparat took place on April 2nd. Nopparat took the decision despite Dernchonlek was a favorite to face Kem in the finals.

Kem Sitsongpeenong vs Prakaisaeng Sit-Or was originally scheduled for April 9, but was postponed due to Kem being sick. The match ended up happening on April 16 with Kem winning by round 4 tko.

This places Nopparat and Kem in the finals. Kem has to be the heavy favorite in this match-up since he's scored multiple KO victories over Nopparat, including one in the groups phase of this same Isuzu Tournament. If he wins this tournament, he will proceed to Thai Fight 2011 where he also likely will be a heavy favorite in a field of foreign fighters.